


Five Minutes Peace

by Cuthwyn



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Love, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Jason/Tea, M/M, Roy is just pure awesome, Support Group
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 13:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16788178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuthwyn/pseuds/Cuthwyn
Summary: Roy had one morning, every other week, to himself.One morning he keeps aside for his group.Is it too much to ask that the Batfamily doesn’t explode for just a couple of hours every other week?





	Five Minutes Peace

Looking down at his watch Roy sighed and glanced up at Dick tearing down the sidewalk like a thing possessed.  
‘Look, I can’t help for long. I do have other commitments you know!’ He shouted after his friend, who flapped his arms in response as if he’d just grown wings. How Jason flying off the handle and doing a runner was his problem, Roy didn’t know.   
It wasn’t him that said well, whatever Bruce said, to upset Jason, so why he was the one being yelled at and dragged around Gotham? In his honest opinion, if Bruce broke it, then Bruce could damn well fix it.  
‘Jason is upset!’ Dick practically screamed back, arms now flapping so fast Roy thought it a miracle that the guy didn’t take flight. He also thought it a miracle that he didn’t point out that saying that Jason was upset was pretty much like saying the sky was blue.  
Roy had one afternoon, every other week, for himself, was it really too much to ask for?

Glancing up at the sky, Roy snorted and shook his head in dismay.  
‘Jay’s legs are dangling off the edge.’ He mused, more to himself than anybody else.  
Spinning on his heel, Dick looked the stereotypical image of a raging madmen, his eyes were wide and he almost seemed like he was frothing at the mouth.  
‘Is this funny to you Roy? Jason is out there, alone and upset and doing who knows what and you make jokes like that? I thought you cared about him I-‘ stopping mid rant, Dick followed Roy’s line of sight before letting out a horrified yell. ‘Little Wing! Oh God!’  
Sighing, Roy watched Dick charge off in search of a way to get his Little Wing down, before looking up at the cathedral with an almost bored expression.   
Traipsing over to the little side door on the cathedral he knocked and waited. Shortly after, the door was opened by a very tired looking priest, who raised an eyebrow at him.  
‘Again, son?’  
Inclining his head, Roy offered him an apologetic smile.  
‘I’m sorry Padré, it’s family issues.’  
‘Hmm, indeed, when is it not? If this weren’t the house of God I would charge rent.’ The priest replied with a sad smile that seemed almost amused as he opened the door wider. ‘At least he has more friends than that gargoyle now.’  
Nodding his agreement, Roy shrugged and made his way inside.  
‘Well, I’ll try to get him down before he attracts a crowd, again.’

Roy lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the midmorning sun and peered around the cathedral’s roof. Jason was sat by his gargoyle smoking his way though a pack of twenty, his legs dangling of the edge of the roof far to precariously for any sane person. Dick was wrong though.   
Jason wasn’t planning on jumping. He sure looked like it but no, this was Jason’s way of trying to get dad’s attention. Jason had done it ever since he was Robin and the tactic worked, usually.  
Roy cleared his throat as he approached to announce his presence because he did not have the time to be scraping a startled Jaybird off the sidewalk.  
Taking a drag from his cigarette, Jason glanced up at him with wet cheeks before looking back at Gotham’s skyline.  
‘Yeah, I know Jaybird. Wrong cape. I don’t even wear a cape.’ Roy continued as if Jason had actually vocalised what was going on in his head. ‘Still, I’m here so what happened?’  
Scowling, Jason shook his head and went back to smoking, eyes trained on the tiny dot in the distance that Roy knew was Wayne Manor.

Any hope that he was going to be on time this morning was quickly disappearing and Roy was completely done with Jason and his family issues. They couldn’t even cope with post-patrol breakfast without someone flying off the handle (Jason) and someone else sulking for days (Bruce). Giving up on any hope of having some me-time, Roy sat down with Jason, only his legs were firmly on the rooftop.  
‘Come on Dude, what happened? You and the old man seemed to be getting on?’  
Nodding, Jason took a drag from his cigarette and stared down at the street below sadly.  
‘Yeah.’ Jason mumbled, wiping at wet eyes and a snotty nose with his sleeve. ‘It was good, B even ate my fruit salad instead of saying he was too busy and going away.’  
Roy smiled at that and nodded in encouragement, waiting for the part when Bruce shot everything down to hell with a thoughtless word or action.   
‘Then B invited me over for Thanksgiving.’

Roy waited for the rest of the story, but that was apparently it. Jason had gone back to smoking and Roy didn’t really know what to say. 

The only time Roy had ever gotten into trouble over Thanksgiving was when he’d been cast as ‘an Indian’ in a Thanksgiving production at High School. He hadn’t really kicked off about it as such, but apparently everyone took offence when he decided to give himself small pox spots and replaced his lines with bargaining the food he was offering for his family’s safety. Oliver had pretended to look disappointed when he picked him up from school, but his amusement underneath was obvious.   
Smiling at the memory, Roy looked over at Jason and leant back on his elbows casually.  
‘What’s so bad about Thanksgiving? And that’s coming from me Jaybird.’  
That earned him a small smirk from Jason.  
‘Dick told me about you and the small pox incident.’  
‘They were damn fine pox, took me hours to perfect! I used a medical textbook and everything.’ Roy shot back with a smirk of his own and Jason chuckled, his legs drawing back from the edge as time went on.   
‘I’m not totally adverse to Thanksgiving Jaybird, y’know that right? I like turkey as much as the next guy.’  
‘It’s a nut roast this year after Damian’s animal rights protest last year.’ Jason added, sticking his tongue out in disgust as he did so.  
Chuckling, Roy glanced down at his watch before looking up at Jason again, trying to figure out how to move this along.  
‘So am I getting my small pox make up out or are we skipping town for the holiday season? I’m down for whatever.’

Shrugging, Jason sighed and shook head as he tossed his cigarette end over the side of the cathedral pensively.  
‘It’s not that, I just, whenever I go home? I’m just treated as if I’m some unstable, lunatic who could kick off at any-‘  
‘Jason step away from edge. We love you!’ Came Dick’s desperate yell and sod Jason, Roy was the one currently fighting the urge to throw himself off the roof. Glancing down at his watch he groaned in frustration before watching Dick’s suicide prevention skills succeed in ending up with a full on fist fight with his brother.   
He really didn’t have time for this.  
‘Oy! Both of you! Freeze!’ Roy yelled at the top his lungs, smirking a little when both brothers stopped and turned to look at him. The thing that really wasn’t funny was that Jason was currently dangling Dick over the edge.   
‘Look, I love you both but I have half an hour to wrap this up. Dick, Jay isn’t trying to jump and he would love to come to Thanksgiving if you all just shut up and treated him like a human being. Jay, Dick is just trying to look out for you and if you don’t want to be treated like a raging lunatic? Maybe cut back on sitting on the ledge of anything high? Now, please Jay, put Dick down!’  
‘Urgh, fine!’ Jason grumped before promptly letting go of his brother and watching him fall.  
‘Jason!’  
‘What? He’ll bounce.’ Jason scoffed with a smirk, before letting out a nervous chuckle. ‘He’ll walk that off. See look! He’s waving!’  
And that was when Roy hit his limit of bullshit tolerance. Storming over towards his moron of a boyfriend, Roy pulled him across the roof with a face of thunder.  
‘Right! That’s it! You and your idiot brother are coming with me.’  
Suddenly, Jason paled and tried to pull away, but Roy’s grip was too tight.  
‘No! No, please Roy? Please, I’m sorry? Please don’t make me?’  
‘You should have thought about that before you pushed your brother off a roof.’

So that was how Jason found himself sat in the back of Roy’s car holding a big box of tea with Dick sat right next to him, battered and bruised and holding a couple of cartons of milk.   
Pretty much growling under his breath, Jason shot Dick a murderous look before making a point of staring at the tea.  
‘I hate going to group. I can’t believe you’re making me go to group.’  
‘Well, then you shouldn’t have thrown your brother off a roof.’ Roy shot back, smiling cheerfully at his boyfriend from the rear view mirror.  
‘I HATE GROUPS!’ Jason raged, tears welling up behind his eyes.  
‘Stop yelling in my ear Jay! I know you don’t like groups, I remember going to your ward rounds at - argh!’ Dick yelled, hands letting go of the milk to cradle his groin which Jason had just rammed his fist into.

‘Pack it in you two. You’re both coming my group, because you can’t be trusted to behave yourselves while I’m gone. Don’t look at me like that Jay, you know you like being in charge of making tea.’ Roy interjected, smiling when Jason looked down at the box of tea in his hands like it was a personal insult.  
‘Wait, Jason’s been to this group before?’ Dick asked, looking from the back of Roy’s head to his brother in disbelief.  
‘Yes Dick.’ Roy replied cheerily as he indicated and turned down the next street. ‘I expect you to behave just a well as Jason does while we’re here.’  
Nodding along, Dick raised an eyebrow and studied Jason for a while in disbelief before shaking his head.  
‘So, erm what group are we going to?’  
‘A support group Dickface, for addicts. Harper runs it and I do not like making the tea!’’ Jason grumbled, now in a full blown sulk.   
‘Oh, okay then Jay, shall I tell Gary that?’ Roy shot back and Jason grumbled something under his breath before closing his eyes and feigning sleep.  
Dick shifted in his seat uncomfortably before finding the passing street fascinating.  
‘Oh. Right. Okay. That um, this is going to be fun.’  
Roy couldn’t help the mischievous smirk that tugged at his lips. 

Roy pulled up in front of a battered looking sports hall in the midst of the Bowery, in fact Crime Alley itself was just around the block. Dick arched a sceptical eyebrow at the graffitied building and the doors Roy was unlocking that seemed to barely hang on their own hinges.  
‘Could you not have gotten a better location to hire?’ Dick mumbled, casting a judging look over the broken windows and litter surrounding an actual bin.  
‘I own this place.’ Jason grumbled as he trudged past with arms full of tea making equipment and mindfulness colouring books. ‘No ones making you stay.’  
‘Actually, I am. Now both of you, get inside and help me set up. We’re already running late!’ Roy hollered from within the depths of death sports hall.  
Nodding briskly, Dick began to help unpack the car and wandered in behind his brother, looking very much like a little lost lamb.  
The condition of the building inside was surprising. Although no one had touched the decor since the mid-seventies, it was clean and in relatively good repair. It even smelled like the sandalwood Jason burnt at home and it was warm.   
There was even sports equipment in the hall itself. Blinking at the basket ball hoops and badminton net, Dick blindly set his armful of stuff on a nearby table as he stared around in awe.  
A scraping and crashing caught his attention and Dick turned to see Jason clearly still in a mood and setting up chairs and tables with a petulant pout. His Little Wing had clearly done this before because he had fallen into the routine of setting up for the group like it was second nature.  
‘He always sets up quicker when he’s pissed off.’ Roy said from behind him, almost making Dick jump out of his skin. ‘Come with me, I have some paperwork that needs sorting.’  
‘Paperwork?’ Dick asked in confusion.  
‘Yes. The first part of the group you can’t really be in Dick, you’re not an addict.’ Roy explained with a sad smile, and Dick frowned back over at his brother.  
‘Neither is Jay?’  
‘They like Jay.’

The paperwork Roy spoke about was in a very neat looking office with all the gadgets any budding secretary could wish for. He’d been set the task of sending off referrals to other services and posting out information about the group to those who’d requested it.  
He saw a small group of volunteers come in with a huge urn of soup and some sandwiches. They offered him a wave as they went past as if he’d always been there before entering the hall.  
‘Hello Jay, how are you today?’   
They greeted his brother and Dick cocked his heads listen in.  
‘Fuck off.’  
‘That good huh? Come on, let’s go set up the tea. You put the milk in first right?’ A male voice said and Dick’s eyes widened. That guy was going to die.  
‘No! No, that’s not the right way! You have to do it right Gary or not bother at all. This is why everyone likes my tea and not yours!’ Jason ranted, before the sound of his feet stomping off towards what Dick could only guess was the kitchen.  
‘Thanks Gary.’ Roy said as he seemed to greet each of his volunteers by name.  
Gary laughed and sounded like he was following Jason.  
‘Ah, it’s nothin’. I love my tea making lessons with Jay.’  
Sticking a stamp on an envelope, Dick couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been shoved in the office so Jason could calm down?

By the time he’d finished the admin work, the support group was in full swing.   
Entering the hall, Dick blinked at the buzz of activity. He’d imagined the support group to be people sitting around in a circle, which it did start off like but now people had splintered off into their own little groups.   
Roy was the centre of it all, orchestrating the entire group with such professional ease and charm it made Dick quite envious. People looked up to him for advice and Roy just helped them because he could. The way he spoke was so inspiring Dick almost wanted to give up alcohol too and he didn’t even drink that much, not really.  
‘She died when I was a kid. I found her in the bathroom with a needle in her arm. She overdosed and was so cold. I can feel her now.’  
Stopping in his tracks, Dick turned to see Jason stood by a huge teapot handing out cups of tea as he spoke to a young woman. His brother never spoke about anything, was openly talking about his mother. What kind of alternative universe was this? How could Roy and a group of recovering addicts achieve what him and all the mental health professionals at Arkham never could?

‘What happened to your face?’   
Turning, Dick blinked blankly back at a young man who can’t be more than eighteen and forced a smile he hoped was welcoming.  
‘I got pushed off a roof by my little brother.’  
The young man burst out laughing and grinned up at him as if he’d met his new best friend.  
‘This your first time?’ He asked hopefully and Dick swallowed thickly before nodding. ‘Me too. I wasn’t sure at first, namean? Thought it might be all happy clappy until I saw Hood over there.’  
Dick thought he’d schooled his expression well but apparently not because the guy just winked at him and looked back over at Jason.  
‘Ah come off it, we all know who he is. Him and Arsenal make a good team y’know? Hood, Jay, he told me some home truths and I think I might, I dunno, I might go talk to Roy about doing the program proper?’  
Dick couldn’t help but beam at him when he said that and nodded enthusiastically.  
‘You should! Roy will definitely help you, he’s done it himself, twice.’  
‘Twice?’  
‘Yeah.’ Suddenly hit by a swell off pride for his friend, Dick wiped at his eyes and noted how thin and scraggly the guy looked. ‘Come with me and we’ll go see if Jay can fix you up with some soup and a sandwich. My name’s Dick.’  
‘Scotty.’ Scotty replied with a smile before traipsing after Dick.   
So that was how Dick got sucked into the whole volunteer lark. He helped serve soup and just chatted to people and if there was one think Dick loved it was talking to people and finding out things about them. Whenever someone asked about something he didn’t know the answer to, he just pointed them towards Roy, who gave him a grateful, if knowing look each time.

Jason came up to him a few minutes before the end and dumped a cup of tea in Dick’s hand with a shifty look.  
‘I’m sorry for pushing you off a roof. You can tell B that I’ll be there for Thanksgiving.’  
Smiling, Dick took a sip from his tea and inclined his head, knowing full well that Roy was keeping a watchful eye on them.  
‘I would like that very much Little Wing and I think I may have deserved being pushed off a roof.’ Pausing, he caught Jason’s eye and smirked. ‘By Robin standards. Is Roy coming too?’


End file.
